Pink Urge Obama to Enforce New Animal Protection Laws

The 'Dear Mr. President' singer has written a letter addressed to U.S. President Barack Obama, in which she asks him to help re-open and prosecute cases of egregious animal cruelty.

Pregnant pop star Pink has written a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama urging him to enforce new animal protection laws. The longtime animal rights activist, who famously attacked former leader George W. Bush in her "Dear Mr. President" song, has now written a "Dear Mr. President" letter to Obama on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The singer is asking him to direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture to re-open and prosecute three cases of egregious cruelty by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. According to PETA, the USDA told then-Senator Obama in 2006 that it would "pursue appropriate enforcement action" after learning of the deaths of a young lion and a baby elephant.

The cases and another surrounding the videotaped beating of a different elephant were closed with no action taken. In her letter to Obama, outraged Pink writes, "In 2006, you made an inquiry to the USDA, on behalf of your constituents, regarding the status of three cases of egregious cruelty by Feld Entertainment (dba Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus). At that time, you were assured that the USDA would 'pursue appropriate enforcement action' in all three cases."

"However, the USDA's Office of the General Counsel has yet to take enforcement action of any kind, and evidence of Ringling's cover-ups, interference with investigations, and tampering with evidence are contained in the USDA's own records and in sworn testimony. The USDA's Office of the General Counsel must be held accountable in the performance of its duties and the promise that animal protection will be secured under the law."

She goes on to list the cases of a two-year-old lion called Clyde, who was left to bake to death "in a boxcar as the circus traveled through the Mojave Desert on a scorching July day when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees", and baby elephant Riccardo, who had to be euthanasia when a "violent training session in which workers used ropes and bull hooks to force him to stand on a circus pedestal" went awry.